Tigers’ soccer season comes to an end

The Alcovy boys soccer team's 2014 season came to a close Tuesday night in the first round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs against Campbell.

The Alcovy High School varsity boys soccer team’s 2014 season came to a close Tuesday afternoon on the road in the first round of the Class AAAAAA Georgia High School Association state playoffs, as the Tigers fell to host Campbell 5-0.

The state’s fourth ranked team recorded four goals in the opening half, while Alcovy held the Spartans to just a single score over the final half of play.

With the win, Campbell moves on to face the winner of Colquitt County/Westlake on Tuesday, May 6, while Alcovy’s season ends with a 6-11 overall mark.

“Campbell is an excellent team,” Alcovy coach Chris Edgar said. “They had tremendous touch and controlled passing. They forced us to chase the ball most of the night.

“They probably controlled the ball 90 percent of the time (and) they were incredibly fast and exposed our lack of team speed,” he said.

Edgar gave praise to the Tigers’ goalkeeper Paul Rothe, who denied shot after shot against the Spartans’ relentless offensive attack.

“Paul Rothe, our goalkeeper, had another tremendous night,” Edgar said. “He had 20-plus saves, keeping us in the game.”

Edgar said it will be sad to see his seniors and Rothe, who joined the Tigers’ program as a foreign exchange student this year, leave the program.

“I am proud of my team … they did not quit and played as hard as they could; we were just outmatched,” he said. “I will miss our seniors … making the state playoffs the past two years has been great and I hope our younger players can mature and we qualify for the state playoffs again next year.”

Alcovy ended its season with three region wins over rival Newton, Lovejoy and Morrow, while picking up non-league victories over Woodland on Senior Night, Newnan and Locust Grove.